. DETECTION FREQUENCY OF SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS ‘’BONZAI’’ IN URINE, A FOUR YEAR REVIEW

. DETECTION FREQUENCY OF SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS ‘’BONZAI’’ IN URINE, A FOUR YEAR REVIEW

In recent years, use of synthetic cannabinoids has been frequently observed in population. There are many articles about the history, type and pharmaco-chemical properties of synthetic cannabinoids in the literature; however the number of articles about the frequency of their detection is limited. Because drug abuse is modern disaster of populations, requirement of definition of risk groups occurred, and we tried to define the risk population in our city.The reports of Duzce University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Scan of laboratory codes‘’ bonzai drug level’’ was performed. Positive reports for presence of synthetic cannabinoids ‘’bonzai’’ in urine were investigated. Demographic features as number of patients, gender, mean of age and seasonal distribution were determined.During 4 year period through 2012-2015, 5374 patients were evaluated for bonsai use suspicion. Of totally 335 patients with urine bonsai detected positive (UBDP), 58 were under 18 years old (%17.31).  The average age of UBDP patients was 25 (14-60 years). The average age of UBDP patients was 33, 31, 26 and 25 for each year through 2012-2015 respectively. Male majority was detected; 56 male and 2 females were under 18 years old, and 270 male and 7 females were over 18 years old. The number and diversity of bonsai use have increased significantly in the drug market in recent years. This has led to more widespread and younger population use of the drug, which we can dramatically observe referring to the records.

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  • Duzce University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine.